City of Oak Creek

Common Council Report

Meeting Date:08/01/05

Item No.:         10

Recommendation:

That the Common Council authorize the Personnel Committee to approve the hiring of replacement budgeted full-time and part-time employees.

Background: 

For the period of 10/1/2003 to 12/31/2004, the Council had instituted a moratorium on hiring, with Council approval required for filling of all openings, whether for new additional positions or for incumbent replacement positions.  Since the moratorium expired at the end of 2004, the procedure it required is still being followed in practice.  Currently, when a position becomes open, the department manager sends a request to the Personnel Committee to review; the Personnel Committee then makes a recommendation to the Council for their next regular meeting. This often presents a 3 – 4 week delay in starting the process to fill the opening.  This presents difficulty when the opening is in a critical area or an area that is already short-staffed.

The Personnel Committee would review each request that is presented.  Instead of making a recommendation to the Council, the Committee would approve the request and authorize the start of the process to fill a position; that process could be advertising, setting up an eligibility list, or hiring from an already-established list.

It is important to point out that this approval authority would apply ONLY for positions that are already budgeted AND are replacements for positions already filled.  Approval to fill any new positions, including those budgeted for, would still require authorization by the full Council.

Fiscal Impact:

None.

Prepared by and Fiscal Review by:

Beverly A. Buretta, CMC

City Clerk/Acting City Administrator